That’s why Richie Sambora treasures the white-and-gold guitar that Les Paul gave him in 1988 at Sambora’s Point Pleasant home.

“I was having a little party at my house, 30 or 40 people, (and) Dennis Berardi (founder of Kramer Guitars) comes in and brings Les Paul,” Sambora said. “I have a dock, and I grabbed Les, and I told security, ‘Nobody gets beyond this point.’ And Les and I went out on the dock, and (we) must have been out there for more than two hours.”

At the time, Sambora, now 55, was preparing to write and record what would eventually become the hit album “New Jersey,” the follow-up to Bon Jovi’s breakthrough LP, “Slippery When Wet.”

“Jon (Bon Jovi) wanted to make a double record next, and for a guitar player and a songwriter and a soloist, that’s a very arduous task,” Sambora said. “So I was a bit overwhelmed ... look, I’m going to go home to chill for a couple of days.”

Paul’s hits, with his wife, Mary Ford, on vocals, include “Tennessee Waltz,” “Mockin’ Bird Hill,” “How High the Moon,” “Tiger Rag” and “Vaya Con Dios.” He seemed to intuitively understand Sambora’s mood on the Manasquan River that night, as one guitarist knows another.

“It was one of those things where I meet him, and I connected with him, and I have this connection, and it’s easy, and I’m in awe of him,” Sambora said. “He says, ‘I brought something for you,’ and he hands me this unbelievable white Les Paul (guitar) with gold pickups — I’ve never seen anything like it — (and says) ‘I brought this for you, happy birthday.’ I went, ‘Oh my God.’ He looked at me (and says), ‘Son’ — like he’s my dad — ‘Son, here’s the sword. Go cut the (sh*t!)’ ”

Paul, a longtime resident of Mahwah, invented the solid-body electric guitar and developed many modern-day recording techniques, including multitrack recording and overdubbing. Sambora will play three shows on Tuesday, July 22, and Wednesday, July 23, at the Iridium in New York City in honor of Paul, who died in 2009 at age 94, and to raise funds for the Les Paul Foundation, which supports music education programs.

Paul played the Iridium every week for 12 years until he died. Wednesday’s performances will be taped for broadcast on Public Television’s “Front and Center” in the fall.

These days, Sambora is still cutting the “sh*t’’ with his guitar. He recently rocked a few mega concerts in the United Kingdom, including London’s O2 Arena, and the Glastonbury Festival, where he performed the Bon Jovi track, which he co-wrote, “Lay Your Hands on Me,” with Dolly Parton.

He also played the London Calling festival, where he joined Stevie Wonder on stage to perform “Superstition” and Aerosmith to perform “Living On the Edge.”

“Me and Dolly knocked that out of the park,” Sambora said. “It’s unbelievable what she’s done as a woman in this business. She’s conquered it, and she’s 68 years old, and she’s beautiful, and she’s still working and singing like crazy.

“She’s enjoying herself. That’s the key.”

Creatively, Sambora has found an outlet with Australian guitarist Orianthi, with whom he’s played several overseas dates. American music fans might best know the blond-maned Orianthi as Michael Jackson’s guitarist for his ill-fated “This Is It” rehearsals.

The union came about when the guitarist in Sambora’s band had to drop off scheduled dates due to a family emergency.

“We had immediate, organic chemistry,” Sambora said. “People ask me, ‘How does it feel to be playing with the best female guitar player on the planet?’ I go, ‘Maybe she’s just the best on the planet?’ ”

Futrue plans include recording together.

“It’s almost like Fleetwood Mac on steroids,” Sambora said. “It’s an anomaly unto itself. She’s one of those women who blows smoke, but nobody knows that she’s a great songwriter and a great singer. There’s a chemistry there that I’ve decided needs exploration, and so did she.”

This is also a period of reflection for Sambora, who has been on hiatus from Bon Jovi since exiting the “Because We Can” tour in April. He did so to spend more time with his daughter, Ava, and to take a break from the hurried pace of the band. Guitarist Phil X filled in for Sambora on subsequent Bon Jovi dates, and the two sides initially had a public spat before cooling off. This year, 2014, is the 30th anniversary of the band.

Yet, even while apart, Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi seem to be working together. The Sambora-Parton performances of “Lay Your Hands on Me,” which was reported around the world, coincided with the reissue of “New Jersey,” from which the single was taken.

“Sometimes the stars align,” he said.

Yet, as the hiatus now goes into its second calendar year, there’s a question: When does “on hiatus” turn into “ex-member”?

“You can never say never, and you can never say ever,” Sambora said. “People grow at different speeds. They have their own life experiences, and to keep a band together for 30 years is an amazing thing. There’s been hiatuses before, and this could be a hiatus, or this could be the end. Who knows? It’s not up to us.”

In this period, Sambora, who lives in Los Angeles, has been spending a good amount of time in his home state. He’s a Woodbridge native whose Polish family has deep roots in Perth Amboy. His ancestors grew up on State Street in Perth Amboy and worshipped at the city’s St. Stephen’s Roman Catholic Church.

Last Christmas, Sambora played a benefit for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen at the Princeton Manor in Hamilton. In June, the rocker debuted a new song, “Lighthouse,” and played Bon Jovi and solo hits for 5,000 people at an anti-drug forum at the Pine Belt Arena in Toms River. It was Sambora on lead vocals, soulful and assured. He detailed his own past difficulties with drug addiction to the assembled local and national press prior to the concert.

In 2013, 112 people in Ocean County succumbed to drug overdoses.

“That came about because all the guys I knew in Point Pleasant that help me watch my parents when I was on the road ... they told me in Ocean County, there were kids dying of heroin,” Sambora said. “I said, ‘What?!’ It was astounding to me. I said: ‘We got to try to do something. What can we do? Let’s talk about it.’ ”

“Lighthouse” will be recorded in the near future, and proceeds will be donated to the Ocean County drug fight.

Up on stage with Sambora in Toms River and Hamilton was Oceanport musician Bruce Foster. In Toms River, he was playing a 12-string Ovation acoustic guitar given to him by Sambora. The two were members of the pre-Bon Jovi band Shark Frenzy, and they remain close to this day.

“He’s a hero of mine — I play with him all the time,” Sambora said of Foster.

“I was like the big brother when he was younger, and the child became father to the man,” said Foster, who has played and recorded with Status Quo, Kiss and Gladys Knight and the Pips. “Richie shares a lot of the values I have — we care about the same things.

“Love every moment of life, and make everybody’s life around you better.”

Chris Jordan: 732-643-4060; cjordan@app.com

RICHIE SAMBORA HONORS LES PAUL

WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 22, and 8 and 10:30 p.m.

Wednesday, July 23

WHERE: The Iridium, 1650 Broadway, New York City

TICKETS, INFO: $85-$215; 212-582-2121 or www.theiridium.com; the Wednesday, July 23, performances will be filmed for Public Television’s “Front and Center’’

BON JOVI’S ‘NEW JERSEY’

WHAT: Now available in a remastered CD and digital edition, a two-CD and digital deluxe edition and a two-CD and one-DVD super-deluxe edition; www.bonjovi.com